The police are investigating a report that a man offered a primary school pupil ice cream and money to get into his car.

The alleged incident is said to have happened on the Blacks Road that stretches from South into West Belfast .

Following the incident a message was sent to parents of pupils at nearby St Anne’s Primary School confirming it was one of their children. The note said that the child “knew better” and had refused to get into the car, before reporting the incident to an adult.

The police said they are “currently investigating a report that a man made a suspicious approach to a child on Blacks Road yesterday afternoon (Thursday 14 June) at around 3.10pm”.

In a Facebook post, they added: “As the child walked along Blacks Road, a white saloon type car pulled up alongside, and the male driver, who is described as being around 50 years old with ginger hair, wearing a vest and sunglasses, offered them ice cream and money to get into the car.

“The child did exactly the right thing, refused and the male drove off. The child then told an adult, who reported the incident to us.”

The police have asked potential witnesses if they were in the area at the time, did see a white car “acting suspiciously or stop at the side of the road? Do you have any dash camera footage you can check?”.

They added: “If you think you have any information which may help our investigation, contact us on 101 quoting reference number 1398 of 14 June 2018.

Read More

“Alternatively, information can also be provided to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 which is 100% anonymous and gives people the power to speak up and stop crime. We have additional police in the area and will be speaking with schools and parents.

We do not want to cause alarm, but it is always good to make your children aware of stranger danger - i.e. NEVER take things from strangers - Never go with a stranger - NEVER get in a strangers car - run to a safer building or a trusted adult & tell the police!”

In the note from St Anne’s they said “One of our pupils making their way home from school along Black’s Road, was approached by a male in a white Citroen car, who tried to persuade the child to get into the vehicle”.

Read More

They added: “We will be reminding the P4 - P7 children of the usual safety messages in class this afternoon. It will be helpful if you take the opportunity to gently reinforce with your children all the safety messages that you and the school give them, especially saying no to strangers.”

Keep up-to-date with all the very latest news, what's on, sport and everything else in Belfast and beyond with the Belfast Live app.

Only select news that interests you by picking the topics you want to display on the app's homepage. Plus, our enhanced user experience includes live blogs, video, interactive maps and slick picture galleries. Download it now and get involved.